Tag: tour

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BPREVIEW: Rews @ The Flapper 17.11.18

BPREVIEW: Rews @ The Flapper 17.11.18Words by Ed King

On Saturday 17th November, Rews will be performing at The Flapper – rounding off their selected UK tour at Birmingham’s iconic live music venue.

Doors open at 7pm, with tickets priced at £10 (+bf) – available from Friday 31st August. For direct event information, including full tour details and links to online ticket sales, click here.

There are certain press release that raise a smile at Birmingham Review. True, lots of them have the words ‘free’ and ‘bar’ in them, but the one that landed on our desk a few days ago was even better than bourbon for gratis. If such a thing were possible (it is, just).

Rews are coming back to Birmingham, playing at The Flapper on Saturday 17th November. And with only 38 days after this gig until The Big Day we feel the expression ‘Christmas come early’ is entirely justified.

If you don’t know who Rews are… a sharp intake of breath… they’re a high octane ‘rock powerhouse’ that have drawn comparisons to Royal Blood (but with better melodies). Made up of Shanua Tohill (guitar vocals) and Collette Williams (percussion, vocals) Rews were the first UK signing on Marshall Records – coming out punching from the legendary rock brand’s corner with their debut album, Pyro, in November 2017.

A string of singles, tours, and festival appearances followed Rews’ extremely confident debut, gathering some well deserved attention from the rock focused media and then pretty much every pundit with a brain at the BBC (including Mark Radcliffe, who cited Rews as one of his highlights from Glastonbury 2017). To read our Birmingham Review of Pyro, click here.

One eight planet dance later and Rews are back in Birmingham, rounding off a five date UK tour at The Flapper – the venue where Birmingham Review first saw them back in February ’17. And it is live that you really want to experience this band, with a ferocious energy and endearing candour flooding off stage every time we’ve shared a room them – click here to read our Birmingham Review of Rews at The Flapper, at the Actress & Bishop, and at the Hare & Hounds.

But things got better and better as we scrolled down the aforementioned press release, because there’s a new single on the table too – ‘Can You Feel It?’ will be released by Rews on 21st September, through Marshall Records. An absolute blinder, this is has been one of our favourite tracks from Rews since we first heard it, with the soon to be set free single getting added production value from Romesh Dodangoda (Bring Me the Horizon, Don Broco, Lower Than Atlantis).

We’ve had a sneak peak of the new ‘Can You Feel It?’ too and it’s PROPER AWESOME. Seriously, just wait – as soon as we can share something we will. But in the interim you can keep yourself happy/distracted with the last two singles to come from Rews – check out ‘Your Tears’ and ‘Shine’ below.

Here’s a message from Shauna Tohill about the soon to be released ‘Can You Feel It?’ too:

“Can You Feel it? is a song that takes a positive spin on hurt feelings. It encourages the listener to ‘let it out’, ‘dance’, ’sing’ and not be afraid to explore how they feel in order to better themselves & learn to love again.  It was inspired and written during a period of heartbreak and describes the stages of grief that we endure.”  

‘Your Tears’ – Rews

‘Shine’ – Rews

Rews come to The Flapper in Birmingham on Saturday 17th November – as presented by Metropolis Music/Live Nation, in association with Birmingham Review. For direct gig information, including full tour details and links to online ticket sales, click here. 

‘Can You Feel it?’ will be released by Rews on 21st September through Marshall Records. For more on Rews, visit www.rewsmusic.com

For more from Metropolis Music, visit www.metropolismusic.com

For more on The Flapper, including venue details and further event listings, visit www.theflapper.co.uk

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NOT NORMAL – NOT OK is a campaign to encourage safety and respect within live music venues, and to combat the culture of sexual assault and aggression – from dance floor to dressing room.

To sign up to NOT NORMAL – NOT OK, click here. To know more about the NOT NORMAL – NOT OK sticker campaign, click here.

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BPREVIEW: Blame It On Bianca Del Rio @ Symphony Hall 30.07.18

BPREVIEW: Blame It On Bianca Del Rio @ Symphony Hall 30.07.18

Words by Ashleigh Goodwin

Following her sell out Not Today Satan tour in 2016/7 , Bianca Del Rio is back at Birmingham’s Symphony Hall with her Blame It On Bianca stand-up comedy show on Monday 30th July.

The evening’s entertainment starts in the Symphony Hall Foyer & Café Bar from 6pm with a live performance from Soprano Alexandra Bork and pianist Nick Bonadies, followed by a ‘pre-show party’ with DJ Lady Miss Ikea at 7pm. The main Blame It On Bianca show is scheduled to start at 8.30pm.

The event is strictly 16+ and is currently sold out, with no further tickets planned for release at the time of writing. For direct show information, including venue details and online ticket sales, click here.

Bianca Del Rio is primarily known as the winner of RuPaul’s Drag Race Season 6, with her outspoken nature, caustic comedy, and razor-sharp wit quickly making her a firm fan favorite. Del Rio was further voted as the viewers’ favorite winner from Drag Race Seasons 1-6 in a poll conducted by Logo TV, the then broadcaster of the RuPaul show.

Bianca Del Rio solidified her competency and professionalism as a performer through iconic RuPaul challenges such as ‘The Snatch Game’ and the ‘Queens of Comedy’, with the show’s titular host saying of her stand up routine in the latter that not only did she “kill it,” she “murdered it”. This should give you a hint of the possible hilarity/havoc on its way to the Symphony Hall stage.

To open the night, FLUID Festival are presenting free pre-show entertainment ‘as part of Symphony Hall’s foyer events programme’ before the Blame It On Bianca Del Rio show. Soprano Alexandra Bork and pianist Nick Bonadies will be performing from 6pm, whose collaboration ‘focuses on opera’s heart-shatteringly high-diva moments to cabaret classics… and smashes down walls between classical concert halls and queer performance spaces. ’

Additionally, ‘international dance music DJ’ Lady Miss Ikea will be appearing from 7pm, playing a mixture of ‘the most glamorous deep, house, disco and wildest pop’ and getting the audience ready for the “clown in a gown” Del Rio.

And whilst self-proclaimed, “clown in a gown” only touches the surface of Bianca Del Rio, with costume designing, three stand-up comedy tours, numerous theatre performances, and film roles all under her belt. Del Rio was also the ‘first contestant in the shows’ history’ of the phenomenally popular RuPaul’s Drag Race ‘to make it through the entire competition without every placing in the bottom three for a challenge’ – with Del Rio’s ‘go hard or go home’ ethos also taking her recent Blame It On tour across Australia, Asia, South America, North America and mainland Europe before landing in the UK.

Not a bad list of accolades, let’s just hope she’s got some energy left. For as the queen of insult comedy has said of Monday’s event: “I hope you’re ready for some filthy, nasty, hateful humor because I’m coming to Birmingham with a brand-new comedy show”. Symphony Hall front row, you have been warned.

Bianca Del Rio brings her Blame It On stand up show to the Symphony Hall on Monday 30th July 2018. There will be pre-show entertainment from soprano Alexandra Bork and pianist Nick Bonadies, as well as a set from DJ Lady Miss Ikea in the Symphony Hall Foyer & Café Bar. For direct show information, including venue details and online ticket sales, visit www.thsh.co.uk/event/blame-it-on-bianca-del-rio

For more on Bianca Del Rio, visit www.thebiancadelrio.com 

For more from the Town & Symphony Halls, including venue details and further event listings, visit www.thsh.co.uk

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NOT NORMAL – NOT OK is a campaign to encourage safety and respect within live music venues, and to combat the culture of sexual assault and aggression – from dance floor to dressing room.

To sign up to NOT NORMAL – NOT OK, click here. To know more about the NOT NORMAL – NOT OK sticker campaign, click here.

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BPREVIEW: The Twisted Circus @ O2 Academy 30.03.18

Words by Emily Doyle

On Friday 30th March, national promoters Klub Kids present ‘the biggest and most unique show of drag HERSTORY’ – as The Twisted Circus comes to town, stopping off for one night at the O2 Academy Birmingham.

Doors open from 6pm for VIP ticket holders and 7:30pm for general admission. Minimum age of entry is 14, with under 16s requiring adult accompaniment. Standard tickets are priced at £25 (Eventzilla) and £30 (Ticketmaster) plus booking and service fees. VIP tickets, which include a meet and greet with the stars performing, are priced at £100 from both outlets – although the booking and service fees do vary.

The Twisted Circus is presented by Klub Kids – for direct show information, click here to visit their Facebook event page. To buy tickets online, click here for Eventzilla and click here for Ticketmaster.

March has been a great month for drag in Birmingham. We’ve had Alyssa Edwards bringing her The Secret Is Out Tour to The Glee Club Birmingham, with BenDeLaCrème hot on her heels for a show at the same venue on 29th March.

On top of all that, the lovely people at Klub Kids are rolling into town with The Twisted Circus. Taking place at the O2 Academy Birmingham on Good Friday, the show is set be quite the spectacle – featuring seven glorious performers, from rising stars to original New York Club Kids. The Twisted Circus line up (in no particular order) is as follows:

Former figure skater and Marc Jacobs model, Milk, will be appearing at The Twisted Circus. No stranger to the glitz and glamour of showbiz, Milk was recently announced at the new face of Madonna’s skin care range, MDNA. Now fresh from her appearance on Ru Paul’s Drag Race All Stars Season 3, Milk promises to be ‘udderly fantastic’.

Next is international seductress, aerial acrobat, and Drag Race Season 7 winner, Violet Chachki. Having performed drag and burlesque alongside icons such as Dita Von Teese, Chachki blends striptease, fetishwear, and her unmistakable vintage aesthetic, all in the name of ‘distorting the gender binary’.

Twenty-three year old Texan starlet, Farrah Moan, is also appearing at The Twisted Circus. Starting out her on stage drag career in Texas, Moan’s Barbie doll looks have seen her cast on Drag Race Season 9 and perform on the Las Vegas strip.

The Twisted Circus also presents Kim Chi, a towering 7ft queen and ‘ever evolving chameleon’. Born in the U.S. and raised in South Korea, Kim Chi’s upbringing informs her high concept looks which ‘encapsulates the transcendental nature of drag’ and celebrates performance art. Chi is also the name behind the doughnut scented ‘Kim Chi Liquid Lip Color’, alongside other products for the Sugarpill Cosmetics.

Next up, The Twisted Circus welcomes Chicago based model and musician, Shea Couleé. Having just released her visual EP, Couleé-D, Couleé uses her background in costume design to create breathtaking fashion and film. Just don’t mention Azealia Banks.

Also performing is international Cher impersonator, Chad Michaels. Part of Califonia’s longest running female impersonation show, The Dreamgirls Revue, Michaels went of to be the winner of Drag Race All Stars Season One and has since appeared in Jane the Virgin and 2 Broke Girls.

Finally in our box of Twisted Circus treats, we have Amanda Lepore. Said by photographer David LaChapelle to have, “the most expensive body on Earth”, Lepore is a model, singer, performance artist and transgender icon. Following her time as an original New York Club Kid in the early nineties, Lepore has gone on to release two albums, a memoir, and even her own Swatch watch.

The Twisted Circus comes to the O2 Academy on Friday 30th March, as presented by Klub Kids. For direct show information, with links to online tickets from Eventzilla, visit The Twisted Circus Facebook event page – click here.

For more on Klub Kids, visit www.klubkids.co.uk

For more from O2 Academy Birmingham, including full event listings and online ticket sales, visit www.academymusicgroup.com/o2academybirmingham

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BREVIEW: Black Rebel Motorcycle Club @ O2 Academy 28.10.17

Black Rebel Motorcycle Club @ O2 Academy 28.10.17 / Phil Drury – Birmingham Review

 

 

 

Words by Molly Forsyth / Pics Phil Drury  

Beaten leather jackets, faded skinny jeans, slightly greying hair and classic rock band tees… a seasoned crowd of music fans are with me at the O2 Academy to see Black Rebel Motorcycle Club (BMRC).

Formed in 1998, the San Francisco trio have anchored themselves as one of the Noughties’ most memorable rock bands, with a die-hard fanbase to boot. Traversing classic hard rock, blues, post punk and anything else from the grimier underbelly of rock, Black Rebel Motorcycle Club are a band who are proud to stick to their guns. While their contemporaries favoured disco beats and New Romantic candour back in 2005, they couldn’t cut through BRMC’s distortion and bluster. This is probably why the band are still going strong and touring in support of their upcoming eighth studio album, Wrong Creatures.

Restavrant – supporting Black Rebel Motorcycle Club @ O2 Academy 28.10.17 / Phil Drury – Birmingham ReviewWith their history in mind, it makes perfect sense for the opening act to be Restavrant, a rare breed of a band borne from the Los Angeles scene by two blues fanatics hailing from the Deep South. Restavrant come to Birmingham trucker capped, plaid clad and ready to bring the Texan heat to the stage. From the first song, the energy borders on dangerous when drummer Tyler Whiteside’s makeshift cymbals splinter from his strikes. What follows is an intoxicating blend of DIY punk and old school blues, but far more earnest than you would come to expect from an LA scene of poseur rock.

The creativity of Restavrant shines brightest for their half hour in the spotlight. Self-taught and unrestricted by traditional rock band set-ups, neither band member sticks to the beaten path in their playing techniques. Guitarist, Troy Murrah, is incapable of playing in a traditional style for more than two minutes, attacking the fretboard from almost every angle physically possible and showing the diversity of 16-bar blues with every song. Whiteside’s unorthodox kit, complete with an electronic pad, a suitcase for a kick drum and various other scraps of metal as percussion, is a perfect example of how this band infuse their Southern roots into their craft.

Black Rebel Motorcycle Club @ O2 Academy 28.10.17 / Phil Drury – Birmingham ReviewThere isn’t much room for any respite or reflection in this stormer of a set, but Restavrant aren’t pretending to strive for anything beyond purely guttural rock, nor would you want them to. In a genre currently suffering under the rise of hip-hop and a trend towards minimalism and softness, Restavrant show determination to bring rock n’ roll back to its former glory, even if only for half an hour.

What follows from the main act of the evening doesn’t really match the pace or excitement that Restavrant incite within the crowd. I’m not expecting Black Rebel Motorcycle Club to have a full-throttle set for 90-plus minutes, but the 24-song set starts to drag from ‘Beat The Devil’s Tattoo’ onwards. I don’t want to suggest an experienced live band could sound amateurish, but it wouldn’t be unfair to suspect that tonight Black Rebel Motorcycle Club are suffering from sound engineering problems. There’s no emphasis on any harsh or soft moments, or indeed barely any change in dynamic at all from song to song. The guitars start to bleed into a drone that is hard to distinguish, save a few recognisable riffs; the issue is so prevalent that I didn’t realise they were covering Tom Petty’s ‘It’s Good to Be King’ until around a minute into the track.

Black Rebel Motorcycle Club @ O2 Academy 28.10.17 / Phil Drury – Birmingham ReviewSound issues aside, I get the feeling that BRMC are aware of their longevity and find comfort in it rather than a challenge. There is definite fan service being paid, with the hardcore faction of the crowd clearly enjoying every second. For anyone else with a slightly more casual appreciation however, it’s a tough set to sink into. As a band famed for their live abilities, tonight Black Rebel Motorcycle Club aren’t quite delivering what they are known for during a live show. They remain mostly static, crowd interaction is minimal, and any playfulness with songs they’ve been entertaining with for years is hard to come by.

Drummer, Leah Shapiro, holds the fort perfectly as the rhythmic core of the group but seems almost bored of her role, rarely breaking away from the studio versions even though she definitely has scope and ability to. The stark, primary-colour lighting and moody smoke effects are reminiscent of early Interpol shows done as a gimmick. All in all, the set is unfortunately nondescript.

Black Rebel Motorcycle Club @ O2 Academy 28.10.17 / Phil Drury – Birmingham ReviewTheir two biggest singles to date – ‘Spread Your Love’ and ‘Whatever Happened to My Rock and Roll’ – are unsurprisingly left till last. Frustratingly, it’s only now that the band come alive; a few plastic pint cups start to bounce off the crowd’s increasing undulation. Levon Been shows a little rowdiness and whips up the front row into a frenzy. After an hour of sleepwalking through their hits, all of a sudden it starts to resemble a rock show, albeit too late for me.

But there are brief moments of magic from Black Rebel Motorcycle Club tonight. ‘Ain’t No Easy Way’, ‘Stop’ and ‘666 Conducer’ are able to break through the onset ennui. Peter Heyes’ solo take on ‘Devil’s Waitin’’ is also impressive.

I leave the O2 Academy with no less respect for Black Rebel Motorcycle Club but a little deflated, having been pumped up with high expectations. I will make sure I give Wrong Creatures a listen upon its release, and my lingering hope is that the next time BRMC make a live outing the quality of the performance matches the undeniable quality of their back-catalogue.

 

 

 

Restavrant – supporting Black Rebel Motorcycle Club @ O2 Academy 28.10.17 / Phil Drury – Birmingham Review

Restavrant – supporting Black Rebel Motorcycle Club @ O2 Academy 28.10.17 / Phil Drury – Birmingham Review

Restavrant – supporting Black Rebel Motorcycle Club @ O2 Academy 28.10.17 / Phil Drury – Birmingham Review Restavrant – supporting Black Rebel Motorcycle Club @ O2 Academy 28.10.17 / Phil Drury – Birmingham Review

Restavrant – supporting Black Rebel Motorcycle Club @ O2 Academy 28.10.17 / Phil Drury – Birmingham Review

For more on Restavrant, visit www.restavrant.bandcamp.com

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Black Rebel Motorcycle Club @ O2 Academy 28.10.17 / Phil Drury – Birmingham Review

Black Rebel Motorcycle Club @ O2 Academy 28.10.17 / Phil Drury – Birmingham Review

Black Rebel Motorcycle Club @ O2 Academy 28.10.17 / Phil Drury – Birmingham Review

Black Rebel Motorcycle Club @ O2 Academy 28.10.17 / Phil Drury – Birmingham Review

Black Rebel Motorcycle Club @ O2 Academy 28.10.17 / Phil Drury – Birmingham Review

Black Rebel Motorcycle Club @ O2 Academy 28.10.17 / Phil Drury – Birmingham Review

Black Rebel Motorcycle Club @ O2 Academy 28.10.17 / Phil Drury – Birmingham Review

For more on Black Rebel Motorcycle Club, visit www.blackrebelmotorcycleclub.com

For more from the O2 Academy Birmingham, including full event listings and online ticket sales, visit www.academymusicgroup.com/o2academybirmingham

For more from SJM Concerts/Gigs and Tours, visit www.gigsandtours.com

 

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BPREVIEW: Black Rebel Motorcycle Club @ O2 Academy 28.10.17

Black Rebel Motorcycle Club @ O2 Academy 28.10.17 / Tessa Angus

Words by Ed King / Pic by Tessa Angus

On Saturday 28th October, Black Rebel Motorcycle Club ride through Birmingham – coming to the O2 Academy as part of their nine date UK tour (plus one in Dublin). 

Doors open at 7pm, with tickets priced at £28.65 (including booking fee) – as presented by SJM Concerts/Gigs and Tours. For direct gig info, including venue details and online tickets sales, click here.

Responsible for one of the best debut albums ever… yep, I went there… Black Rebel Motorcycle Club have been tearing up the asphalt on both sides of the pond (and beyond) since 1998. Some call them ‘shoegaze’, some all them ‘grunge’, some call them ‘garage rock’, but Black Rebel Motorcycle Club have a distinctive twisted metal sound that they can comfortable call their own. ‘Fucking awesome’ is where I personally land, but with well over 200,000 words in the English language I’m sure you can come up with a more erudite description. Or you could just listen.

Globetrotting with a new album in the wings, Black Rebel Motorcycle Club are coming to Birmingham to push their impending new album – Wrong Creatures, which will, apparently, possibly, be with us just after Christmas.

But having waited half a decade since their last LP, the 12 track monster that is Specter at the Feast, a few months here or there won’t bite down too hard. At least I’ll have something to spend those iTunes vouchers on, that will no doubt appear in some relative’s Hallmark hug this December (…other online music downloads are available).

Having recorded and released on their own imprint since 2008 (starting with the download only The Effects of 333) Black Rebel Motorcycle Club have been able to reinvent and reiterate all the cogs in their machine, drifting from the Native American rhythms of ‘Beat the Devil’s Tattoo’, passing through the dark rock heart of ‘War Machine’ and ‘Teenage Disease’, to stand still at the morbid curiosity of ‘Fire Walker’. Awesome. Relentless. Lots of other words; 24rs spent ploughing through this band’s back catalogue would not be a day wasted. Even if you’re wasted.

Now there’s another album in the offing too, and whilst we don’t know much about Wrong Creatures here’s a little taste of what’s to come… and yeah, that’ll do. The rest we’ll get to see/hear coming off stage at the O2 Academy on Say 28th October.

‘Little Thing Gone Wild’ – Black Rebel Motorcycle Club

For more on Black Rebel Motorcycle Club, visit www.blackrebelmotorcycleclub.com

For more from the O2 Academy Birmingham, including full event listings and online ticket sales, visit www.academymusicgroup.com/o2academybirmingham

For more from SJM Concerts/Gigs and Tours, visit www.gigsandtours.com